"The joke is not bad," I said, with a laugh; "but read it yourself, you mongrel Chinaman."
"I will read it, then—‘Take care of your purses.’ Do you understand?"
"Perfectly well. I like tke style of the notice; it is plain, concise, and direct, and moreover it appears called for," I added, casting my eyes upon my travelling companions.
There were forty passengers on board the faï-ting. There were costumes of all kinds: coolies in blue chams and straw hats; sailors in brown chams, with pig-tails twisted round their heads; boys in white chams; students in long flowing robes, wearing on their heads caps like those worn by French abbés, and surmounted by tassels of gold. The commander of the lorcha, dressed like the sailors, came towards us, and told us that our boys had placed our baggage in the general room, where we should find ourselves very comfortable. Indeed, according to the Chinese custom, we had sent on board of this floating omnibus of the Celestial Empire a mattress, a bolster, a mat, and a mosquito curtain.
"But are there not two stern cabins?" inquired Callery.
"Decidedly," said the Chinese; "but they are occupied by two merchants from Nankin."
This positive answer rendered it useless for us to endeavour to obtain private rooms, and we en-
B 2
